1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates communications jamming and, more particularly, to systems and methods for radio frequency hopping communications jamming utilizing software-defined radio platforms.
2. Background of the Related Art
A capabilities gap in the tactical Electronic Warfare realm is the lack of mobile, low-weight tactical jamming capability at the company/platoon/Operational Detachment-Alpha level. Jamming resources are large, limited in number and centralized.
Enemy forces currently use simple communications technology both for both offensive and defensive purposes (fire control, early warning nets, command-and-control, etc.). This technology includes push-to-talk handheld commercial off-the-shelf analog radios in the 2-meter and 70-cm bands. The enemy is able to use these communications nets to effectively adjust fires, coordinate support by fire and the maneuver element, etc. The average commander on the ground has no Electronic Warfare assets immediately available to attack enemy communications, and must rely on centralized airborne assets, which must be coordinated in advance and are available for limited amounts of time.
Historically, the following issues have arisen with prior art tactical ground-based jammers:    (1) Limited Numbers: Jammers have been centralized under a Military Intelligence Company.    (2) Personnel: In the past, Signals Intelligence personnel have performed the jamming mission. Limited in number to begin with, these personnel were split between their collection missions and jamming. An opportunity cost in lost intelligence was thus incurred with every jamming mission, and had to be balanced against the return-on-investment of enemy disruption these missions provided. Due to the classification associated with the Signals Intelligence mission, most commanders on the ground did not have the opportunity to learn how to maximize the utility of jamming.    (3) Large Size: The large size of jammers is primarily due to the size of the power amplifier necessary to perform the historic jamming mission, i.e., attack against a conventional enemy's headquarters. Large size and heavy power consumption have required such jammers to be vehicle-mounted, limiting their use in dismounted operations. Generally, dismounted jammers have failed to effectively suppress enemy networks due to lack of power. This has been an issue of attempting to jam across the entire target band, thereby reducing the jamming power delivered to each channel and necessitating a larger power amplifier to provide adequate jamming coverage to disrupt the target channel. In other words, the approach to jamming enemy communications in the 2-meter band (144-148 MHZ) has involved jamming across the entire bandwidth, and splitting jamming power between 200 distinct 20 KHZ channels. A lot of power is required to do this successfully.